Joe Garagiola passed away this morning, the Diamondbacks have announced. He was 90. He is survived by his wife, three children (including Joe Garagiola Jr., the former D-backs GM) and eight grandchildren. There will be a funeral in St. Louis, and a memorial service in Arizona.
Garagiola grew up in St. Louis as a close friend of Yogi Berra, and both players made their big-league debuts as catchers in 1946 (when Garagiola played in the World Series as a rookie with the Cardinals). Garagiola played for parts of nine seasons in the big leagues, catching for the Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs and Giants before playing his last season in the big leagues in 1954. He batted .257/.354/.385 for his career.
Garagiola then went into broadcasting, first working for the Cardinals and then for NBC, where he worked alongside Vin Scully. He also served as a co-host on The Today Show, a guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and as the host of a variety of game shows. After leaving NBC following the 1988 season, he broadcast for the Angels in 1990 before serving 15 years as a part-time broadcaster with the D-Backs. He received the Ford C. Frick award from the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1991.
“Joe was so special to everyone at the D-backs and had an aura about him that you could feel the moment you met him,” says Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall. “Those of us who were lucky enough to know him personally were profoundly aware that the lovable personality that fans saw on TV was only surpassed by who he was in person and the way he treated everyone around him.”
He looked like Verne Gagne’s twin.
Long before I could watch almost any mlb game with the push of a button, Joe Garagiola and Vin Scully brought the game into my living room through the Game of the Week. I was able to see many of the far off places I’d only seen on baseball cards, and Joe Garagiola was the voice of this experience for me as a small child. Thanks Joe!
Nobody has paired in the booth with Vin since he worked those years with Joe, and very few before that I can remember. They were a memorable team. A lot has changed in sports broadcasting since those days, and not for the better.
That was then… Harold Reynolds is now. Ugh.
I’d like to hear Orel Hershiser paired with Vin Scully. I almost feel that Scully would benefit from that. Certainly, not everyone could be paired with him…but Hershiser is cerebral enough to augment his elegance. I love Vin Scullys voice, but I do think that pumping his radio over the TV gives the games a little lack of breathing room. Radio and TV are just different. His call of the Gibson home run on tv masterful…he let it breath…and that’s just impossible to do with radio dead air.
RIP Joe. I remember how you and Vin Scully brought me the baseball world when I was kid, back before almost every game was on TV. I will always fondly remember how welcoming and gracious you were to Padres fans while you were with the Diamondbacks. Thanks for all the memories. My condolences go out to his family and loved ones.
RIP Joe. Thanks for many an interesting broadcast with Vin. You guys were great.
Don’t forget Garagiola was a New York Yankees radio and TV voice from 1965-67. It was always believed that Red Barber’s exit after the ’66 season had Garagiola’s fingerprints all over it.
Don’t forget Garagiola hosted game shows in the 1970s and 80s and worked on New York Yankees radio and TV broadcasts from 1965-67. It was believed Red Barber’s departure from the Yankees booth after the ’66 season had Garagiola’s fingerprints on it.
Joe and Vin could really call a game.
I watched and heard Joe on NBCs Saturday Game of the Week. I am a Yankees fan and during the late seventies when they were winning they were broadcast quite a bit. At that time I had no idea who he was because I was so young. But I loved hearing his broadcasts and his take on the game. He also loved to talk about his friend Yogi. Whenever someone dies that you actually shared a part of your life with. It’s kind of like a part of you or I should say memory dies with that person. I’ll miss Mr. Garagiola and I offer his family my condolences.
joe, and curt gowdy were the men that made every young baseball fan, including myself, pray that Saturday afternoon would be everyday. the nbc game of the week was a treat to watch on Saturday, listening to joe, and curt. the idols of the era like mantle, mays arron, rose, Clemente, banks, and on, and on, was a tremendous joy to watch.
He was quite a bit before my time, but I always remember him as Charlie Brown’s favorite ball player. At one point he was offering a whole list of baseball cards (including Mantle, Mays etc.) to Lucy for the one Garagiola card that he had been trying to get. She wouldn’t trade it to him because “he had a cute face”, finally CB gives up and Lucy throws the card away at the end saying “he’s not as cute as I thought he was.”
Grew up listening to him and Scully and then him and Tony Kubek. Like listening to your grandpa tell stories of ball players, he was very genuine. I met him in 1996, and he sat for 3 hours and I hung on every word, as he captivated our small audience. I hope Yogi was there to greet him with some Italian food from the old neighborhood, and a pair of spikes, where they could play in the street once more. He threw out 36% of would be base runners in his career, and struck out a TOTAL of 173 times in 9 years, less than 20 times a year. He walked over 250 times, accounting for his high on base percentage. The man was a legend, and a great guy. RIP, Joe. Enjoy the game!!!